How to Seduce Prospects Through Your Sales Funnel

Do you remember the dating scene?  Maybe you’re still playing the game…

I’ll admit, I’m better at marketing than I ever was at seduction.  But after being happily married for over 7 years, I must have done something right.

Looking back on those dating years though, I’m struck by how much marketing and sales funnels are like dating and seduction…

Just like courting, in sales you win some and lose some.  But also, like seduction, you can get better.

If you’re a woman, I am talking from a man’s perspective.  But read on…  You might learn a little bit about how men are trying to attract you.  Besides, you know you have little tricks for making guys fall for you.   Don’t lie, you know you do it.  Just apply these same lessons to your marketing.

Imagine you’re determined to find that special someone.  The person you want to spend your life with.  Or, maybe just someone you want to get into bed for a night of sordid pleasure.  I don’t judge.

Depending on your goals, every sales funnel you build needs to be approached like trying to capture the opposite sex.

Customers can either be a one night stand – a 1 time sale.  Or more like a marriage – a customer for life.  Both start the same way.

With seduction.

Picture yourself in a smoky bar.  The lights are dim, the music is pumping, and bodies are gyrating on the dance floor.  Across the dance floor, you spot the woman of your dreams.  She’s gorgeous, having a great time, and your body is tingling with excitement.

Do you walk up and proclaim your undying love?  Or ask her to sleep with you?

Before you answer, I know guys who do exactly that.  They walk up to every woman in the bar and ask “Hey, how would you like to have sex tonight.”  The strange thing is, most nights, those guys end up getting lucky.  Although sometimes you wondered if you could really call it that.

It’s a numbers game.

It seems to me most marketers and sales personnel are doing the same thing in their sales letters, web pages, and presentations.

And, unless your offer is truly dreadful, as long as you drive enough traffic, some people are going to buy whatever you’re selling.

But damn, that’s a hell of a lot of work.  For not much reward.  And with the price of traffic, it pays to increase your odds in any way you can.

Besides, just like with the opposite sex, you don’t want clients you have to settle for.  You want the big ticket prize.

If you’re like most people, when you meet a person of the opposite sex, you approach gradually.  You want to give them a chance to know, like, and trust you.  That’s how you build a meaningful relationship.  It also increases your odds of closing the deal.

Here are 3 steps your sales and marketing funnels should take from the dating game:

Get Her Interested (Attraction – Top of the Sales Funnel)

When you’ve had your eye on a cute girl, the first time you go on a date your goal is to get her interested in you.  Sure, you might want her to fall madly in love (or lust) with you.  But you know it’s not happening right away.  It takes time.

You need to show the object of your affection something that captures her imagination.  And gets her wanting to hear more.

If you are an avid rock climber, and she’s a couch potato, talking about the 6 months you’re about to spend at the base of Everest isn’t going to win her over.  But, it lets you escape the date early because clearly you don’t have anything in common.

Your sales funnel and marketing materials need to start the same way.  In fact, the only role of your headline, sub headline, and lead, is to get your prospect interested enough to read the rest of your materials.

Headlines don’t come right out and say “Buy Now.”  Instead they make a promise or state a big benefit.   They arouse curiosity.  Something interesting enough the prospect wants to hear more.

For example:

“How to Win Friends and Influence People”

If you want to win friends or influence people, you’ll find this headline interesting.

If your prospect isn’t interested in winning friends, they can click away from the page and save you some bandwidth.

Make Her Like You (Know, Like and Trust – Middle of the Sales Funnel)

You’ll always do better on a date if you can “help” your date know, like, and trust you.  While there are a few chicks out there who might sleep with you without all three, it certainly is a small percentage.  And, they aren’t the type you want for the long term or to take home to mom.

I hate to break it to you guys, but most girls don’t trust you.  And for girls, the entire date is about trying to prove their suspicions.

You have established interest and attraction.  But now, she is looking for you to screw up.  To say the one thing that proves you are the jerk or dork she believes you really are.

You need to suspend that belief (her belief you’re going to screw up) for a certain amount of time before she’ll move to the next stage.  For some girls that might be a few hours.  For others, a few days.  But eventually, she’ll give you that first kiss (or whatever), at which point the relationship changes.

This is the stage in your marketing funnel you’ll spend the bulk of your time.  Getting your prospects to like and trust you.

Did you know – in a long form sales letter, most people will read the headline (establish they are interested), and then scroll down to the bottom to see the price?

If both of them look ok, they’ll read the rest of your sales letter.  By now, they’ve made their decision.

But they’re looking for you to screw up.  They’re actively searching for an excuse to leave the page without buying anything (or giving you their contact information, or whatever).

If you can suspend their belief long enough – they will eventually take action.  In later blog posts we’ll discuss how to keep that belief suspended.

Content marketing fits into this stage of the seduction.  You are trying to make your prospect know, like and trust you.  Let them know you are alike.  Prove to them what you are offering will do what you promise it will.

Closing the Deal (The First Kiss, Sex, Marriage – Bottom of the Sales Funnel)

At some point, someone is going to have to make the first move.  Whether it is for that first kiss, the first passionate night together…  Or a marriage proposal.

It might be the other person.  But if you really want it to happen, it’s your job to take charge and get it done.

This can be a tricky part of seduction.  If you push too hard or too fast, your crush might pull away.  Depending on how aggressive you are, you might blow your chance.

Instead, you want to flirt a little.  Lean in, and pull away.  Touch her hair, and then stop.  Talk about the future, and then change the subject.  But, all the time, keep moving down the path towards the end result.

It’s a great play to pull back every so often.  Leave them yearning for you to take the next step.

In your sales and marketing funnel, the close is the same way.  Your customer might take the first step and ask you how to buy.  But more than likely, you are going to have to lead them by the hand.

You have presented all of your benefits, and suspended their belief.  Next, you get almost to the point of telling them to buy now (play with their hair), and then you pull back, and present a few more benefits.  We often refer to it as a false close.

Then, if they respond positively (they’re still reading), move in for the close.

The more desire you build, the more likely they are to help you along to the next step.  The next step could be an optin (the first kiss), or a purchase (sex), or an upsell or referral (marriage), depending on where in the sales funnel they are.

Some people (men and women) use manipulation to seduce their “conquests”.  But seduction is a tool that can be used for good or evil.  When I met my wife, I knew I was the best person for her.  However, it was my responsibility to seduce her and convince her of that.

In sales, you can manipulate your prospects.  But like a one night stand, you’re unlikely to ever see the person again.

If you believe in what you are selling, you owe it to your prospects to seduce them into a lifelong relationship.  It’s an important responsibility you have.  Because they’re missing out if you don’t.  Just like your spouse would be missing out if you hadn’t seduced them.

Look at your sales and marketing funnel…

Is it creating attraction, building a relationship, and closing the deal?  If not, what can you change?   Are you being too forceful?  Not aggressive enough (at some point someone has to make the first move)?

Sales funnel optimization is all about increasing the value of every customer in your funnel so you can close more and bigger deals.

Think of marketing and sales as the ultimate seduction, and you are sure to close more deals.  Not to mention have a heck of a lot more fun.